1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for pulverising cremated remains and more particularly to apparatus for reducing the remains to uniform size.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many crematoriums have used ball mills and the like for grinding ashes to obtain a reduction of size. However, specialized devices have also been built for this purpose. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,301 to Faelling, a ball mill is shown having a perforated drum into which an ash pan from the crematory oven is placed and which spills the ashes into the drum when rotated. A number of rolling balls are included which grind the remains as the drum rotates. The ashes sift through the perforations and are collected in an urn. The size of such a drum requires a relatively large structure with a heavy duty motor for driving the drum. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,204 to Williford, a hollow perforate drum is provided which rotates, carrying a plurality of elongate rods of various diameters such that the rods tumble one over the other within a pair of flanges for reducing the ashes. The reduced ashes sift through the perforations in the drum and are collected. The necessity for rotating a drum having high inertia requires a large motor, and the tumbling operation results in a high noise level.
Elkin, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,347 addresses the problem of metallic, noncrushable matter often unavoidably mixed with remains. He teaches a rotatable grinding plate with a heavy stationary bearing plate positioned over the grinding plate. Although an improvement over other devices, the Elkin machine requires a relatively large and expensive structure and is inconvenient to use.
It is known to use a stationary perforated sector of a cylinder for comminuting wide varieties of materials. For example, sifters, strainers, mashers and the like are common in food preparation. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 972,515; 2,305,251 and 2,595,469. Each of these patents teaches a stationary perforated surface over which a roller is manually passed to perform various functions. In all instances, the roller is rigidly attached to a handle. A powered device of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,210,017 to Nordell. A roller is attached to an arm and driven from an external power source in a reciprocating motion. This type of device is not suitable for reducing cremated remains due to the problem of jamming when noncrushable material is encountered.
Thus, there is a previously unfilled need for a simple, low cost pulverizer for cremated remains which will reduce ashes which contain noncrushable material without jamming and which is dust free during operation.